The number of affordable housing units for Indigenous people in Saskatchewan could be doubled and it would still fall short of the need.

The sorry state of reserve housing is a matter of concern in Indian country, but overcrowding and the lack of quality urban housing is often overlooked.

The Indigenous population has doubled over the past two decades and all indications point to a continued increase. Today, over half of Saskatchewan’s Indigenous population live in urban areas.

People migrate to the cities in search of a better life with improved services and better housing; often it turns out to be a false hope.

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The Department of Indigenous Services has a deliberate policy of underfunding First Nations to encourage the people to move away from reserves, reducing the federal government’s financial obligation.

This is not a written policy, but rather the mindset of the Indigenous affairs bureaucracy. Governments and ministers come and go, but the civil service is eternal. They continue to implement failed policies and place poison pills of colonial control in First Nations funding agreements.

So, it’s no wonder with an entrenched policy of underfunding and control that there has been an outward migration in First Nations communities.........

© Saskatoon StarPhoenix